Minnesota State Climatology Office



WR-00906-02-A

Rev. 2/02

How to Fill Out Your Observing Form

| | | |This is the |

| | | |network |

|Please print your |Please write the last two digits of the year |Please enter your county number (see the list |number. “7” is|

|name. |and the two digits of the month (example: 2000 |below for numbers). Also enter your township, |the SWCD |

| |= 01) and (example: April=04) Also the time |range and section number. These numbers can be |network. |

| |that you observe each day (example: 07 am). |found on county plat books. | |

| |[pic] |Please print |

|Please print your | |the name of |

|street address. | |your Township |

| | |Please enter |

|Be sure to include | |your phone |

|your zip code. | |number. |

| | | | |

| |For information on how to fill out rain and |Please enter your gauge type, other information| |

| |snow, please see “How to Record Rain and Snow” |about your rain gauge, and if you have a | |

| |below. |snowboard. | |

|How to Record and Report Rain and Snow |COUNTY NUMBERS |44 MAHNOMEN |

| |1 AITKIN |45 MARSHALL |

|SUMMER: |2 ANOKA |46 MARTIN |

|Left Column - Rain Gauge: Rainfall measurements should be |3 BECKER |47 MEEKER |

|entered to the nearest hundredth of an inch. (Example: .07 or |4 BELTRAMI |48 MILLE LACS |

|1.32.) in the left column only. Record the rainfall for the day |5 BENTON |49 MORRISON |

|on which the observation was made. Any rainfall after the |6 BIG STONE |50 MOWER |

|observation time (which should be the same time every day) will |7 BLUE EARTH |51 MURRAY |

|be measured on the next day. Enter T or trace for amounts less |8 BROWN |52 NICOLLET |

|than .01 (one hundredth) of an inch. If no rain has fallen |9 CARLTON |53 NOBLES |

|enter zero (0). |10 CARVER |54 NORMAN |

| |11 CASS |55 OLMSTED |

|WINTER: |12 CHIPPEWA |56 OTTER TAIL |

|Left Column - Melted Snow - Outer Tube: During the winter, use |13 CHISAGO |57 PENNINGTON |

|only the outer tube of the gauge to collect snow. At observation|14 CLAY |58 PINE |

|time melt the collected snow and measure the water obtained to |15 CLEARWATER |59 PIPESTONE |

|the nearest hundredth of an inch (Example: .14) using the |16 COOK |60 POLK |

|graduated center tube. Enter the measurement in the left column.|17 COTTONWOOD |61 POPE |

| |18 CROW WING |62 RAMSEY |

| |19 DAKOTA |63 RED LAKE |

|Middle Column – Snowfall - Yardstick: Measure new snowfall |20 DODGE |64 REDWOOD |

|(fallen during the last 24 hours) to the nearest tenth of an |21 DOUGLAS |65 RENVILLE |

|inch (Example 2.4 or .5) using a yardstick. Select a previously |22 FARIBAULT |66 RICE |

|bare area, such as a driveway and take the average of several |23 FILLMORE |67 ROCK |

|measurements. A snowboard may be useful. Record this amount in |24 FREEBORN |68 ROSEAU |

|the center column only. |25 GOODHUE |69 SAINT LOUIS |

| |26 GRANT |70 SCOTT |

|Right Column – Depth of Snow on Ground - Yardstick: Measure the|27 HENNEPIN |71 SHERBURN |

|depth of snow on the ground to the nearest inch using a |28 HOUSTON |72 SIBLEY |

|yardstick. Repeat this measurement at several spots where there |29 HUBBARD |73 STEARNS |

|was no drifting and take the average of the readings of the snow|30 ISANTI |74 STEELE |

|depth. Record this amount in the right column only. |31 ITASCA |75 STEVENS |

| |32 JACKSON |76 SWIFT |

| |33 KANABEC |77 TODD |

| |34 KANDIYOHI |78 TRAVERSE |

| |35 KITTSON |79 WABASHA |

| |36 KOOCHICHING |80 WADENA |

| |37 LAC QUI PARLE |81 WASECA |

| |38 LAKE |82 WASHINGTON |

| |39 LAKE OF THE WOODS |83 WATONWAN |

| |40 LE SUEUR |84 WILKIN |

| |41 LINCOLN |85 WINONA |

| |42 LYON |86 WRIGHT |

| |43 MCLEOD |87 YELLOW MEDICINE |

Observing Notes

| |[pic] |

| | |

|Please include all rain| |

|(or liquid equivalent | |

|of snow) in the left | |

|hand column. Snowfall | |

|is in the middle | |

|column. Snow depth is | |

|in the right column. | |

| | |

| | |

|“X” means no reading. | |

|The gauge was not out | |

|on these days. | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Cumulative Total: Means| |

|gauge was in place from| |

|10th to the 13th but | |

|was not read till the | |

|13th. (This reading is | |

|the total from the 10th| |

|–13th.) | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Phenology and weather | |

|events are useful. | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|For no precipitation | |

|use a ‘0’ for zero. | |

| | |

| | |

|A “T” for a Trace of | |

|precipitation. | |

| | |

|Place an “X” in the | |

|last box if there is an| |

|X for any of the days | |

|that month. | |

| |Draw an “X” on each day for which the gauge was not in use for whatever reason was not collecting |

| |precipitation. Note the days on which you put out or took in your gauge. |

| | |

| |Draw a vertical line through days on which you did not observe but the gauge was collecting. (If you know |

| |the days were dry but simply did not check your gauge, use zeros instead.) |

| | |

| |On days with zero precipitation, a simple ‘0’ is preferred over a blank or ‘0.00’. |

|Please check your | |

|address for the State |The State Climatology Office data will interpret blanks as zeroes unless they have strong reasons to |

|Climatology Office. |suspect that something else is happening. The vertical line through days with no observations is |

| |particularly important! |

|State Climatology | |

|Office |For snowfall observations, take care to write your values in the middle column labeled ‘SNOW (Ins.& |

|439 Borlaug Hall |Tenths)’. The first column, labeled ‘RAIN, MELTED SNOW, ETC (INS.&HDTHS)’ is reserved for liquid |

|University of Minnesota|precipitation or the water equivalent of snowfall; in other words, the amount of water in the snowfall. |

|1991 Upper Buford |Finally, ‘SNOW ON GROUND (INCHES)’ is for measurements of the accumulated snow pack or snow lying as |

|Circle |affected by the total fall and the settling of snow to date. |

|St. Paul, MN 55108-6028| |

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